Fred VanVleet, Aaron Holiday, and Jae’Sean Tate will have implied no-trade clauses this year, based on the terms of their new Rockets contracts. Jeff Green forfeited his right to such an arrangement.
Fred VanVleet is a One-Year Bird player this season, since his new deal is a one-year deal (with a player option for a second year).
FVV will have an implied no-trade clause.
— David Weiner #🟦 (@BimaThug) July 11, 2025
Technically, the only two current NBA players with contractual no-trade clauses are LeBron James with the Los Angeles Lakers and Damian Lillard with the Portland Trail Blazers.
To be eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause, a player must have played at least eight NBA seasons while spending at least four of those with his current team. He also must be signing a free agent contract, rather than a contract extension.
So, teams are usually reluctant to give out no-trade clauses because it limits their roster options, and the vast majority of players aren’t even eligible to ask for one in the first place.
However, there are several other players who have implicit no-trade clauses for 2025-26, since the manner in which they signed their current contracts gives them the ability to veto trades next season. The criteria, per HoopsRumors, is as follows:
A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, unless he agrees to give up that protection when he inks his deal. That group doesn’t include players on two-way contracts, but it does include players who accept standard (non two-way) one-year qualifying offers.
A player who signs an offer sheet and then has that offer matched by his previous team also has the ability to veto a trade for a full calendar year.
Among 10 players who currently have those implied no-trade rights for 2025-26, three (Fred VanVleet, Jae’Sean Tate, and Aaron Holiday) are members of the Houston Rockets. Combined, those are approximately $30 million in salaries, with the vast majority ($25 million) going to VanVleet as the starting point guard.
So, when considering hypothetical Houston deals during the upcoming league year, fans should keep those implied no-trade clauses in mind.
Veteran forward Jeff Green was also eligible for such an arrangement, but he agreed to forfeit his trade-veto rights (as did nine other players across the league, per HoopsRumors). So, in contrast to VanVleet, Holiday, and Tate, the expiring salary of Green could be in play — but it’s of fairly minimal importance, as a minimum contract.
Most players who signed free agent contracts this offseason will become trade eligible on December 15, with that kicking off a nearly two-month period leading up to the early February deadline for in-season deals. With the 2025 offseason transaction window largely complete, that’s the next unofficial “trade season” around the NBA.